Grits and I have been arguing for some time that the warrant used to justify raiding YFZ Ranch had some problems. Apparently, we were right. In fact, it seems to me that the original warrant strains the “good faith exception” into “deliberate and willful ignorance,” i.e., “we can confirm that Dale Barlow is a convicted sex offender but we were shocked, shocked and appalled to discover he was in Arizona at the time!” However, given the current climate in Texas criminal appellate law (“the only error is harmless error”), I’d say the chances are good this warrant would hold up, assuming we even get to the stage of holding criminal trials. Right now, we don’t even have any alleged perpetrators named (other than Barlow, of course), much less any arrests. And, of course, the warrant is meaningless for purposes of removal, since DFPS doesn’t need a warrant, valid or otherwise, to remove children.

Mankin: That’s a big operation to put together in three days, surely law enforcement must have had a preliminary plan in place ready to deal with this kind of eventuality?(Sheriff) Doran: Let’s just say that law enforcement was and is prepared to answer a cry for help at the YFZ Ranch.

…tends to confirm my suspicion that this was a law enforcement operation with a CPS removal attached, and not the other way around.

Remember Tulia? A community of Black people — targeted, rounded up on made up charges with no evidence; demonized with inflammatory labels and Swift Boat prosecuted in a Kangaroo court.

Now the same pattern of state abuse is being used against the American Families living in El Dorado that read from the Book of Mormon. This time the stakes are even higher, over 400 innocent children are in jeopardy of doing time in the dangerous Texas Department of Child Protective Services (CPS) custody.

The Corporation that thinks it is a government has a bug in the system; we are getting the wrong results. It is time to fix the law and prevent these government abuses.

Could you help me out with a source on that “we can confirm that Dale Barlow is a convicted sex offender but we were shocked, shocked and appalled to discover he was in Arizona at the time!”. TIA! 🙂

I am not at all impressed with that Sheriff Doran. The first two times he stuck his foot in his mouth I backed off from declaring him a total idiot because he is faced with a media blitz he is not accustomed to, but…

The remark about it being acceptable to violate civil rights with probable cause and that he’s had a FOUR YEAR plan of attack ready paints an entirely different picture after that interview.

In that interview, before he bragged on helping with the affidavit to obtain the first warrants, he tried to shift attention to CPS throughout and play dumb by acting as if sexual charges and age of the alleged victim (Sarah) were a bit of a surprise to him (“probably”!!!!!!!!).

He’s clueless on how to accomplish his goal of being the hero lawman while keeping the CYA all are using CPS for.

Hey Crank, maybe you can explain something for me. What evidence does the CPS have to back up allegations of sexual and physical abuse at the compound? I’ve followed a lot of links today trying to figure that out but I’m missing it somehow. I read that interview and the Sheriff makes it sound like the evidence was a lot of pregnant young women. Is that really it?

If “Sarah” was a fraud, and the whole “bed in the temple” thing is inocuous, then yeah, pretty much. I think that’s the real reason they are so hot for DNA testing, given that, at least according to FLDS attorneys, they kids do in fact have birth certificates.

“Moreover, prior to executing the initial warrant, (Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran) was advised that Dale Barlow was in Arizona and not on the premises sought to be searched. In fact, prior to entering the premises Sheriff Doran actually spoke to Dale Barlow in Arizona by cell phone, confirming his driver license number and the fact that he was in Arizona.”